Abbey - Our Vegetarian Dog

So, we have had our little (or not so little) punkin' pie on a diet for the past 6 months. She has lost 10 lbs. Notice her new sleeker hips... We now get to add a cup of any type of vegetable every day. She is dog happy. She loves broccoli and cauliflower, green beans, potatoes, even lettuce and anything else you can imagine.

Every afternoon she gets her special treat of 4 baby carrots which is good for her teeth. When the vet told us, I thought.... no way is she going to eat those. (uncooked) But there you have it... she thinks they are awesome & yummy. We are so proud of our vegetarian dog, who took up the life style without any urging from us.... Way to go, Abbey.

Art Recieved

I am starting to recieve some awesome art from the new website I'm trading at most of the time now. http://www.illustratedatcs.com/

"Looking Up" by Sharon in Canada.

She is another fiber artist. This is felted and free motion quilted. It was really fun to trade with someone who does similar things. There aren't very many of us.

"Nautilus 117" by Karen in Las Vegas, NV

She has won all sorts of awards for her art, including Artist of the Year and has clients such as Michael Jackson and Playboy. You can see more of her art at http://www.ArtWanted.com/KMS

"Pathway" by Janet of the United Kingdom. I love nature & landscapes

"Canyonlands Sunrise"

These next two are by Margaret of Arizona. You can check out her blog at http://waterblossoms.blogspot.com/ to see links to some of her other art. She's amazing and

every day posts some kind of art and a Zen type inspiring thought.

"Tuscan Sun"

"Ouster"

"Sticking One's Neck Out" I love this. How many times do you get your neck stuck in a noose by doing this.

These next three are by Cynthia of Kansas. You can see more of her art from links on her blog. http://couchart.livejournal.com/ She has a very unique and creative style.

Newest ATC's

"Flower for Ms. Garbo"

"A Winter's Day"

"Ms. Coy"

"Starting Over - Again"

I'm thinking about enlarging some of these to an 8X10 size....

After 29 years....

This is how it goes folks.

Last night we were watching So You Think You Can Dance..... Ken is icing his hamstring and I'm doing some handwork. I ran downstairs to get something and he hollered.... "where are you going?" "I'll be right back," I said. Coming up the stairs I said..... "Do you just want me by you all the time?"

"No, I just wanted to know if you'd turn off that light."

My Way Of Staving Off Boredom

These are some of the ATC's I've been making lately. I like to work on them on a lazy Sunday.

These are a few I sent to an International ATC show in Portland, Maine. If you want.... at the end of the show they will trade them out for you..... matching quantity and trying to match quality. It will be interesting to see the returns. http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=123438711014449&index=1

Artist Trading Cards

I always have the best intentions of updating this every week, but somehow it never seems to happen.

I have been captivated this year by ATC's (Artist Trading Cards) They are miniature works of art, 2 1/2" X 3 1/2". The way you get them is to trade.... they cannot be bought or sold. This new art culture sprang up in 1996 from rejecting the notion of critiquing and pricing art. Swiss artist Vanci Stirnemann started the movement, inspired by sports trading cards.... he created and showcased over a thousand Artist Trading Cards in a gallery in Zurich, Switzerland. He refused to sell the cards but offered to swap with anyone who brought in a card. A movement was born which eventually circled the globe. There are many internet trading sites.

They are made from almost any art venue.... drawing, pen & ink, water color, acrylics, oil, collage, paper and fibre arts. I have made all of mine with fabric. After I made my "Spirit" or "I See Dead People Quilt" as Andrea calls it.... I wasn't satisfied with just sewing a quilt.... though I still love it.... I just wanted to add more to it. This little size makes that much more practical and allows me to feed my embellishment addiction. I'll post some of what I have made next week (maybe) but I got my best cards yet, yesterday....

"The Boys" and I decided we would trade cards only make them 5 X 7. I sent them bunches of "stuff" to create with.... glitter glue, buttons, beads, seashells, fancy paper, glue.... Canyon decided our first theme.... FANCY CARS. Next month we'll have Mackenzie join us and Auggie will pick our theme. I think these is such a fun way to connect the cousins and grow some creativity. There is a unique and precious quality of children's art that can't be duplicated.

Canyon's to me

Auggie's to me

For Canyon.... "Off To The Beach"

For Auggie.... "Off To The Races"

Colorado Rocky Mountain High

So it has been a month or two.... we finally did something noteworthy and took a visit to see Mackenzie & her mom & dad. She was so cute when she first saw us.... she ran and leaped into Annie's arms giggling & smiling. It was like a scence out of a movie.



The main event was getting to watch Mackenzie play soccer. She has down all the right moves, from throwing the ball back in.... to being one kick away from it going down the field. Tyler's job as coach is to run down the field with them yelling encouragement and reminding them to kick the ball. For one team, (she played 2 games) without their coach, he did it for both teams. That was fun to watch. His other job is to field questions about.... when is it halftime.... when do we get to do the tunnel.... do we get a treat.... is the game over now?

Of course I brought presents.... which were projects we could do everyday. There's nothing that girl can't do. Every time I took her picture doing something, she would say, "Make sure you show this to Canyon." The last time we were all together, he called her a baby and I think she wants him to know she isn't one anymore.

Ken & I even worked in a quilt show. I'm sure Ken came along because he was sure I wouldn't be able to find my way back. I might have...... eventually. He is the best husband ever, though when it came time for me to puruse the vendors in my search for treasures I can't get in the quilt stores.... he pulled out his Suduko book while I wandered.

We had a great time.... Tyler & Lindsay's house is the part of the Goldilock's story where they say, "..... and it was just right." Ken helped Tyler with some yard and house projects. Annie & I did projects with Kenzie & and it seems made dozens of trips to the store... Annie had to drive beacause of course I can't find my way home, poor Lindsay worked (but we loved the time we did get to see her.... she is an amazing woman.... we just love her.)